Post Show Thoughts: Edward Snowden Flees Hong Kong

There was breaking news this morning as reports broke that NSA leaker Edward Snowden fled Hong Kong hoping to find asylum in another country.

On Meet the Press, the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald, who broke the NSA story and has communicated frequently with Snowden over the past few weeks defended his source from critics as well as the U.S. government which has charged Snowden with espionage.

"He stepped forward... and exposed it so we could have a democratic debate about this spying system," Greenwald said. "Do we really want to put people like that in prison for life when all they're doing is telling us, as citizens, what our political officials are doing in the dark?"

"He has taken information that does not belong to him, it belongs to the people of the United States. He has jeopardized our national security," Rogers argued. "Clearly the bad guys have already changed their ways."

Now, as Snowden is on the run to, as Greenwald put it, "a democratic country that will grant him asylum from this prosecution," the question remains as to whether or not the government can get him back on U.S. soil.

NBC's Justice Correspondent Pete Williams reported that it is now "a diplomatic issue, not a legal one."

However, Chairman Rogers thinks the government should take "every legal avenue" to bring him back to the United States to stand trial.

You can watch the entire program on our website and be sure to catch our roundtable discussion as well as our panel of lawmakers that weigh in on the prospect for immigration reform.